The present invention is directed to a method for manufacturing a gas laser that is closed vacuum-tight and is provided with a pump or filling tube which extends to an interior of the gas laser, the gas laser being evacuated through this tube and then subsequently filled with a laser gas, with the filling tube being subsequently closed by being pinched shut to form a cold-weld seal.
Siemens brochure entitled "Fur die He-Ne-Lasertechnik: Rohren, Module, Stromversorgungen" dated 1986/87 discloses a gas laser tube which, as illustrated in FIG. 1, has a filling tube which is pinched off at its end and closed vacuum-tight as a result of this pinching off. U.S. Pat. No. 4,081,762, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference thereto, also discloses this type of gas laser tube. In the prior art, such lasers must be provided with what is referred to as a pump stem that are formed of a small tube and of a reinforcement situated at the end thereof. These pump stems must be individually clamped to the pump stand in order to be able to implement the steps of evacuation, heating and filling of the housing of the laser.